I am kicking off the “motherhood” section of MKIA with my 5 favorite baby products. After nearly 11 weeks of twin baby bliss, I now know I could not live without these:

1. Wimmer Ferguson Infant Stim-Mobile: This is my son’s first bff. Seriously. He smiles at this mobile with sincere love in his eyes. The shapes and bold color contrasts are engaging for infants because it’s easy for them to see. I have ours hanging over the changing table and each time Charlotte and Will lay there they immediately look at it, smile, giggle and coo. Occasionally when they are fussy I use it as a distraction and it almost always calms them.

2. Aden and Anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets: Simply the best blanket on the market. If you own any others, you can toss them now. These muslin miracles are super soft and have the perfect amount of “give” to get your newborn wrapped up just right. Later, after swaddling is no longer necessary, they make great cuddle and light stroller blankets. I have a lot of the designs but I find the stars to be the best for swaddling because they hold their shape best. Go to adenandanais.com for the latest designs.

3. Wubbanub Pacifiers: Thank you, thank you, thank you Wubbanub people for inventing these pacifiers! Any mom knows the value of a good pacifier to help calm a fussy Boo Boo but keeping that paci in place can be difficult, especially with newborns. With a Wubbanub, pacis stay put while resting on a baby’s chest thanks to the adorable stuffed animals “sucking” on the other end. They come in all varieties, from frogs and kittens to elephants and giraffes. As your baby grows and learns to grab, they can start to hold them on their own.

4. Hi Sense BabySense V Baby Safe Infant Movement Monitor: The only baby monitor on the market that can alert you to a lack of movement in your baby’s crib. This amazing machine can sense the slightest breathing movements from your baby that are not visible to the naked eye, giving us new parents an additional level of security so we too can get some much needed rest.

5. California Baby Calendula Shampoo and Bodywash: All the California Baby products are 100% botanically based and naturally tear-free but so far this is my favorite. We use it at bath time and also to make homemade baby wipes (recipe for that coming soon) and my babies have never had a skin irritation or diaper rash.

All these items can be found at amazon.com.

Halibut is good fish to grill with because it is denser and can stand up to the grill better than something like Tilapia. Just a few tips: Make sure the grill is very clean and preheated then place the fish skin side down diagonally across the grates. Once the skin is nice and crisp, use TWO slim spatulas to catch each side of the filet and gently flip the fish. DON’T MOVE IT MORE THAN THIS, it will surely fall apart if you mess with it too much.

I love this recipe because it uses fresh, healthy ingredients and is fast and easy and to prepare. I make double the amount of salsa to use with tortilla chips the next day…yum. The recipe is courtesy of Gwyenth Paltrow via Bon Appetit:

INGREDIENTS (yields 4 servings)

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2″ dice
• 1 medium ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2″ dice
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 4 large fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for brushing
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 6-ounce halibut or mahi-mahi fillets
• 4 lime wedges

PREPARATION

Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Gently combine the avocado, mango, tomatoes, basil, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 tablespoon lime juice in a large mixing bowl. Season salsa to taste with salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature, gently tossing occasionally.

Place fish fillets in a 13x9x2″ glass baking dish. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon lime juice over. Season fish with salt and pepper. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes, turning fish occasionally.

Brush grill rack with oil. Grill fish until just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates. Spoon mango-avocado salsa over fish. Squeeze a lime wedge over each and serve.

Delish!

P.S. If you are like my gorgeous little Godson and are allergic to mangos, substitute them for strawberries.

1. J. Crew The Great Caper, $398; jcrew.com

2. Milly Suede-trimmed tweed cape, $575; net-a-porter.com

3. Rachel Zoe Ava knit cape, $450; shopbop.com

4. Bird by Juicy Couture Leather-trim cape, $428; Neimanmarcus.com

5. Joie Tyra wool blend toggle cape, $548; Bloomingdales.com

Keep in mind that you have to balance the fullness of this style. So unless you are like my bff – a skinny bitch of 5’9″ – you will need to pair it with a slim pant and heel. Wide bottom (not leg) pants in a dark wash worn with heels would also work and slim, ankle-length pants worn with pointy-toe flats is another acceptable pairing.

Hello! It’s been a while, I know. A lot has happened and I apologize for not keeping you all informed. As you may remember from my last post (A Blissful Bikini Wax), we moved to Dallas in April but the move was not my BIG news – no, no, no. I was sitting, literally, on something really big for a while…9 months to be exact. If you didn’t just guess — I was pregnant and had a baby. Well, two babies. Yep, I had twins 8 weeks ago! And I am so excited to finally be sharing it on MKIA. I had a boy and girl, their names are Charlotte (left) and William (right) and they are healthy, happy little nuggets.

My path to motherhood, like so many women, was not straightforward. I’m sure some of you are wondering, because I had twins, if I became pregnant naturally. It seems that having twins these days automatically raises the IVF flag. And yes we used IVF to have our children but not for the reasons you might think. Without going into too much detail or boring the hell out of you on my first day back — we used IVF to prevent a child of ours from having a fatal genetic disease.

Because most of you are women and/or people at, or approaching, the age where one would start a family, I think it’s important to briefly discuss this. My husband and I are carriers of a gene that is recessive in us but if a child of ours inherits the pair, he will be affected. We had a 25% chance of this happening in any natural pregnancy so we chose instead to go through a process called PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis), which requires the use of IVF.

If you think you might be a carrier of a genetically inherited disease, or if you just want peace of mind, ask your OBGYN for a genetic screening (a simple blood test). Instead of offering these screenings to women who are trying to get pregnant or are of child-bearing age, normally genetic tests are not to performed until a woman is pregnant and close to the end of her first trimester. Unfortunately for women who want the screening and are carriers, waiting until she is already pregnant can potentially lead to some very difficult decisions.

The good news is that we now have two beautiful, healthy babies and we couldn’t be happier or more grateful. A twin pregnancy is not exactly a joy ride and given the ups and downs we experienced going through IVF, I felt it was best to keep quiet until we knew all was well. Here is a photo of their nursery. I didn’t have a theme, other than I knew I wanted to use jungle animals and stars. I added personal touches with the paintings (a local Dallas artist painted them for us) and I replaced the knobs on a dresser/changing table I bought from The Land of Nod with these gorgeous mosaic ones I found at Anthropologie.

If you want specific info on how I decorated the nursery, send me an email. Otherwise, I’ll be back soon with some great new posts. I’ve missed MKIA so much and if you are still with me thanks!

Tonight I am staying at the W Hotel in Downtown Chicago because, drumroll please, we are moving to Dallas tomorrow morning and the movers packed up our entire house today. We sought refuge for the night at The W, which is also the home of the Bliss Spa here in Chicago. After weeks of packing I was in desperate need of some overall grooming. So at 5pm, after a long day, I checked into the W and went right to Bliss for a wax, mani and pedi.

I was dreading the wax but as soon as I got to my room I read the spa menu and noticed that Bliss uses something called “poetic strip-less wax”. I immediately started to relax because hard wax is the only kind that can be used without a strip of cotton and requires more skill to apply but is usually gentler. When I met my waxing technician, Aretha, she told me that the “poetic wax” is a special Bliss formula and guaranteed me that this was going to be the most painless waxing experience of my life. I braced myself for the first shredding and, to my relief, it was a fraction of the sting I was expecting. And so the rest of the wax went – practically painless and, dare I say, even somewhat pleasant.

While I must credit Aretha for her skill and knowledge of the product, I am confident that the “poetic wax” and the secret Bliss formula are the reason I had such a smooth, pun intended, experience. I left Bliss relieved to know that they have a location in Dallas (and 20 others throughout the world) and that from now on “poetic wax” will be the only kind I let touch my skin!

Go to blissworld.com for locations.

I am not talking about the sexy bras you wear for a couple hours (or a few minutes), I am talking about the ones we live in. The ones we have to wear from morning until night, from a breakfast meeting to a cocktail party or from the morning drop-off at school to dinner with family. Some of you smaller ladies can get away with a bralette - the kind of bra with no underwire and soft straps. I’ve found some, through much time and investigation that support my size 34C frame but the argument can be made (and has been by numerous female friends and relatives) that I need more support and as I get older I feel I must acquiesce.

Also, and I am reluctant to share this, I’ve put on a few pounds recently and, thanks to genetics, they went right to my cleavage. This recent “development” was the impetus for my visit to the lingerie department at Saks two weeks ago where I discovered the Spanx Bra-lellujah collection. Hear me all female family and friends who have scoffed at my unwavering reluctance to wear an underwire – I have been converted. Bra-lellujah!

Here is what I love about these bras: they have almost NO hardware. You know, all those plastic and metal pieces that dig into your skin and constantly remind you that you are wearing the torturous thing. All the straps, including the back strap, are made of the incredibly smooth, gravity defying Spanx material and expand or contract to adjust to your shape so they don’t strain or agitate your skin and muscles. I made my cousin try one and she said she forgot she had it on! I currently own two but plan to purchase more in some of the other styles in the line – racerback, contour, non-padded, wireless and hosiery (their version of the bralette).

You can find them at Saks and I would guess most other major department stores but you can also buy them online at spanx.com. They fit true to size and I promise will be the best gift you’ve ever given your breasts.

Who says you can’t learn anything from Gossip Girl? Not me. I find something worthwhile in every episode and normally it’s along the lines of how to layer a knit vest over a sweater and sequin skirt. Serena’s stylist shut it down once again last night. Anyway, this week GG gave me something even better than fashion aspiration – a new band. The Naked and Famous (fantastic name), have two amazing singles - Young blood and Punching in a Dream, that were released late last year and a forthcoming debut album. Listen and download at itunes.com/thenakedandfamous.

About a month ago I tuned into Saturday Night Live, which I do sparingly because it can be hard to watch some of the slough they are trying to pass off as comedy. But every now and then they get it right and I like watching the musicians. This particular evening The Black Keys, a unique bluesy-rock duo, were the featured artists and their song, Howlin’ for You, made me sit up and pay attention. Apparently I am coming a little late to the party, they have recorded five studio albums already but it seems their latest, Brothers, is getting the most attention. In addition to Howlin’ for You, I downloaded these five tracks: Tighten Up (also performed on SNL), Next Girl, Everlasting Light, She’s Long Gone, and Too Afraid to Love You. Listen and download at itunes.com/theblackkeys.